London roundup: PIES!
Traveling and only-periodic access to a connection kept me from doing posting dispatches from days 4 and 5 of my London trip. My editor is going to kill me! Besides a day trip to Oxford, though, there's not a whole lot of events to fill you in on. It was more hanging out with my sister and some casual, quality London time.
In the interest of closure, though, let's sum up four days with everyone's favorite cultural calculator: the Gross Generalization.
The Best Part of London
Besides the amazing neighborhoods that seem to stretch on without end, my favorite part of London is exactly the part that they get so maligned for: the food. Yes, it's easy to talk about how much cultural diversity has improved the cuisine, but it's the junk food that I love. The pies...ohhh, the pies. They'll take pretty much anything and stuff it into a fried pie, and every one that I had was delicious. Their chips (which they call "crisps", which doesn't make any sense at...oh, wait...now I get it) come in flavors that no American mind ever would have dreamed. The pre-packaged sandwiches are combinations that seem so logical, but yet aren't everywhere. Clotted cream? I mean, come ON! It's a flavor paradise.
The Worst Part of London
By Monday, I was thinking how funny it was that the stereotype of New Yorkers is rude and unpleasant and the Londoner stereotype is witty and charming. In fact, I've found that New Yorkers are actually pretty calm and helpful but Londoners? They are a irritable and angry people. I stopped trying to count the number of times we heard someone yell out "Fuckin' 'ell!!" The bus drivers are--without exception--placed on earth by Satan. There's a hooligan hostility seething underneath too much of the nightlife. It's a beautiful, historic, incredible city, but there's very little about it that feels very friendly.
I'm back now, and I brought chocolates and toffee. They're sitting on the corner of my desk, so stop by any time and help yourself before I put myself into a sugar coma that I'll never wake up from.
2 comments:
I hope you are keeping up the Hero tradition, Reid. :) I got a similar impression of London - there's a "you're on your own, mate" mentality. And the tube makes me nuts. What are they thinking, only one ticket machine at Paddington Station? I've been to that station several times and there are always these huuuuuge lines of people waiting to get tickets. Actually we had that same experience in Paris. Next time DC people pass by the wall o' ticket machines in the Metro, be grateful.
Indeed I am keeping up the tradition, Jen, though Cadury has changed their chocolate collections a little bit. But I brought back one of the "Roses" boxes and a box of Thornton's toffee to share with the office. Needless to say, I've been teetering on the edge of a sugar coma for the last few days. Needless to say, I woke up at 4 am this morning.
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